Archive for the ‘pastor’ Category

“We are hoping and praying that they will not be able to deny what the Lord has ordained,” (Senator?) Roland Burris said. “I am not hesitating. I am now the junior Senator from the state of Illinois. Some people may want to question that and that is their prerogative.”

Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey apparently said yesterday that “Allah would punish Israel” for its attacks on Gaza.

We here at Peace and Freedom were attacked by a pastor this last weekend who said God would punish us for supporting Barack Obama.

And Rev. Rick Warren has said he and his God condemn gays….and some of my gay friends said, “Well God Damn Rick Warren for sure…”

Maybe we should allow God to pick and choose His own people at His own time…

A Washington Post reporter said the newspaper had called 16 churches to see if they’d heard anything about the first family’s intended place of worship. The white churches responded, eager to share their lobbying efforts to win the Obamas as parishioners. The black churches didn’t respond; they didn’t want to play, said the reporter. “They don’t trust us,” she said, explaining that after the Rev. Jeremiah Wright experience, black church leaders think the media are waiting to descend on them looking for inflammatory sound bites, sifting through tapes and examining church bulletins for anything that might offend white America.

St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House

Black religious leaders did not stand up for Wright even as they understood and sympathized with the prophetic theology he was steeped in. He had jeopardized Obama’s candidacy and so he disappeared, but the internal fight, much of it generational, continues. Wright has since eased himself back into Trinity Church in Chicago, alongside his successor, Otis Moss III, a voice of the future. The rise of Obama highlighted a cadre of black professionals who, like Obama, were not shaped by the civil-rights battles of the ’60s, or steeped in family memories of slavery and Jim Crow. “We look different; we sound different,” says Eddie S. Glaude Jr., a professor of religion and African-American studies at Princeton who spoke at the Pew conference. “Historically locked out of black politics because we didn’t march, we now have Ph.D.s and J.D.s,” he said, describing this group, of which he is one, as “post-soul babies.” Along with Obama, they are finding their political voices, and the traditional brokers like the Reverend Wright and the Rev. Jesse Jackson are vulnerable, caught in the generational divide that is confounding the black community.

In a keynote speech that Warren delivered at the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s annual convention in Long Beach Saturday night, the pastor says he faced a lot of criticism for inviting Obama to his church three years ago.

Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California

Warren says the two men don’t agree on everything but people with differences can work together to solve the world’s problems.

Obama’s choice of Warren sparked an outcry from gay rights and other liberal groups, who say choosing such an outspoken opponent of gay marriage is tantamount to endorsing bigotry.

Barack Obama has selected televangelist Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose Driven Life” and an outspoken opponent of abortion rights and same-sex marriage, to deliver the invocation at his inauguration Jan. 20. Why? What was he thinking when he picked this particular religious spokesman—a publicity hound who fights against causes of great moral importance to many of Obama’s supporters—for such a prominent role in the inauguration?

I consider this Obama’s first big misstep, and not only because of Warren’s stance on abortion and gay rights. He represents a combination of evangelicalism and boosterism , in the tradition of Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham, that is a particularly repugnant part of American religious tradition. Many have suggested that the choice of Warren puts him in a position to succeed Graham as the nation’s best-known pastor. No religious leader should occupy the role that Graham played in successive administrations—as an unofficial counselor to presidents, a predictable functionary on all ceremonial occasions, and a spokesman for one brand of religion. It is a brand of religion that has always been allied with American anti-intellectualism, and that is yet another reason why Obama’s choice is so puzzling and disturbing.

Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren participates in a panel discussion during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York in this September 26, 2008 file photo. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Warren, who opposes gay marriage, as a speaker at his inauguration, creating a commotion over what inclusiveness will mean for his administration.REUTERS/Chip East/Files

How wonderful it would have been if a humanist had been included in the inaugural ceremony for the first time. Secularists, unlike evangelicals, voted overwhelmingly for Obama. It is truly disappointing to me to see Obama catering those who make up a significant share his enemies and disregarding the views of his friends….

The selection of Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Rick Warren to deliver the Inaugural Invocation raises all sorts of provocative questions.

Has Barack Obama betrayed the left by choosing someone so closely identified with the anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage positions of the Christian Right? Does this mean Warren has succeeded Billy Graham as America’s pastor? Will the 2009 Inaugural Invocation be the first in American history delivered by a man with a goatee?

I think the most interesting question won’t be answered until Warren speaks on Jan. 20. To whom (Whom?) will Warren deliver the Inauguration’s opening prayer? Will his language be inclusive or exclusive? Will he pray to the sort of generic Creator God mentioned in the Declaration of Independence? Will he pray to the monotheistic and paternalistic God the Father? Or will he, as a conservative Christian pastor, pray in the name of Jesus?

Does it matter?

Above: Detail of Sistine Chapel fresco Creation of the Sun and Moon by Michelangelo (completed in 1512).

By David Waters
The Washington Post

Billy Graham used inclusive language when he delivered the Inaugural Invocation in 1989. “0 God, we consecrate today George Herbert Walker Bush to the presidency of these United States,” he said. But four years later, Graham ended his invocation at Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration this way: “I pray this in the name of the one that’s called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. Amen.”

Do you remember anyone complaining? I don’t. It’s Billy Graham, the greatest evangelist of the 20th Century. How else would he pray?

Graham was too frail to deliver invocations for George W. Bush. At Bush’s 2005 Inauguration, Rev. Luis Leon’s prayer language used inclusive language, praying to a “most gracious and eternal God” and closing his prayer by saying, “We ask in Your most holy name.”

But at Bush’s first inauguration in 2001, the pastors who delivered the invocation and benediction created a bit of a stir when both of them prayed to Jesus. The invocation by Franklin Graham ended “in the name of the father, and of the son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.” The benediction by Kirbyjon Caldwell ended with the words, “‘We respectfully submit this humble prayer in the name that’s above all other names, Jesus the Christ.”

Among the critics was Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz, who wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Graham’s “particularistic and parochial language . . . excluded tens of millions of American Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Shintoists, Unitarians, agnostics and atheists from his blessing . . . The plain message conveyed by the new administration is that Bush’s America is a Christian nation, and that non-Christians are welcome into the tent so long as they agree to accept their status as a tolerated minority rather than as fully equal citizens.”

So what will Rick Warren’s prayer say about Obama’s America? What should it say?

We are told here at Peace and Freedom that the President-elect considered a broad spectrum of pastors to come to Washington to assist in the invocation of God at the inauguration in January….

The Reverend Al Sharpton, left, and Caroline Kennedy have lunch at famed soul food restaurant Sylvia’s in Harlem, New York, Thursday Dec. 18, 2008. Sharpton was not available in January because he’ll be praying for his own shot in the Senate and commenting on the Obama presidency on TV…

Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Said “God damn America”
during church sermon. Probably not right for an
inauguration….Obama was a member of Wright’s
church and contributed money for some 20 years….
But Wright is now wrong for Obama….

Jesse Jackson is not available this January because he is having his scowl surgically removed. He also said he wanted to “cut off Obama’s balls” which didn’t help his chances….

President-elect Barack Obama lists his many
possible pastors….

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich shakes hands with Pastor Marshall Hatch of the New Mt. Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church as he arrives at his home with Pastor Ira Acree, right, of the Greater St. John Bible Church, and the Rev. Steve Jones, president of the Baptist pastor’s conference, Friday, Dec. 12, 2008, in Chicago. Most of the pastors from Illinois are busy this month and next….

Rahm says there are still some guys available for the “God Gig”….

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., pauses during his remarks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008. Little Jesse said he was not available…. and really pissed off….

The Pope and all Catholic pastors declined
and said they’d be doing “ministry to
little boys”…..

This guy said he’s praying for rain…..

This guy said “this whole deal is a nightmare”….

She’s trying to pray her way out of the “the single greatest love story” fraud…. Photo: Getty Images

A performer rests during a religious carnival marking Ashura on day eight of Muslim holy month of Moharram in Sede, near of the city of Isfahan, 495 km (309 miles) south of Tehran, January 17, 2008. Ashura, a 10-day-long event commemorates the death of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Iman Hussein in battle 1,300 years ago. Most Muslim Holy Men are busy this next January. ….REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (IRAN)

President-elect Obama’s statement:

Let me start by talking about my own views. I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something that I have been consistent on and something that I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency. What I’ve also said is that it is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues, and I would note that a couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren’s church to speak despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. Nevertheless I had an opportunity to speak, and that dialogue I think is part of what my campaign’s been all about, that we’re not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.

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The Gettysburg address was about this short, covered a lot more ground and had more clarity…..

I guess Obama only knows two pastors and both of them are extremist jerks….Or this is just Obama’s second “Pastor Disaster”?

Is Rick Warren really supposed to invoke the name of God upon the Barack Obama inauguration in January? Or is he there to erase the stain of another pastor: Jeremiah Wright?

One has to wonder….

The Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. performed Barack Obama’s wedding ceremony and held a role on an Obama for President campaign committee. (Photo by E. Jason Wambsgans — Chicago Tribune)

Many Americans have probably wondered what Obama was thinking while he was a parishoner in Jeremiah Wright’s church for some 20 years and while Wright gave obnoxious sermons saying things like “God damn America.”

Now Americans are asking why in heck did Barack Obama pick Rick Warren for the inauguration? He only knows two pastors?

No, as with all politicians, reasons are likely a lot murkier. And a careful reading of the President-elect’s books might make one see a murky view toward religion, faith than God. It is left up to the readers’ interpretation, largely.

Is Rick Wrren the “Wright” choice for Obama? For America?

No. But perhaps Team Obama picked Rick Warren hoping for some gain and unconcerned about what might be lost.

Rick Warren is a political, not a heavenly, appointment.

Rick Warren is an extreme right conservative. Just as Jeremiah is….well, you decide.

If this is mainstream: put on your lifekacket.

I guess Obama only knows two pastors and both of them are extremist jerks….Go figure.

Gays were still up in arms days after learning that Obama had asked anti-gay Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration.

But the real question remaining is why in heck did Obama choose Rick Warren in the first place? Obama seem flummoxed into providing a really lame answer Thursday.

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From the Los Angeles Times

In commenting on the nation’s problems, Obama also called for “a restoration of a sense of responsibility, that all of us have responsibilities to operate honorably,” as well as of the principle of “advocating not just for ourselves, but what’s good for the country . . . operating not just out of greed, but operating out of a sense for the common good.”

He struck a similar note when asked about his choice of Rick Warren — pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and author of the best-selling “The Purpose Driven Life” — to give the invocation at his inauguration.

Gay rights protest Obama’s selection of Warren, in part because Warren supported Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to declare that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” In a statement Thursday, Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, called Obama’s choice “extremely disappointing and hurtful,” and said he would decline an invitation to attend the inauguration.

Asked about the selection of Warren, which became known Wednesday, Obama called on Americans to “come together even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues.”

“We’re not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is be able to create an atmosphere where we can disagree without being disagreeable, and then focus on those things that we hold in common,” Obama said. He noted that civil rights activist Joseph Lowery would also speak at the inauguration.

Rick Warren. Confused?

In a written statement Thursday, Warren commended Obama “for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn’t agree on every issue, to offer the invocation.”

Warren continued: “Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America.”

Obama opposed Proposition 8 even though he, like Warren, opposes same-sex marriages. Aides said earlier this year that Obama believes state constitutional amendments such as Proposition 8 can threaten the legality of same-sex civil unions, which Obama supports.

Obama said that he had been invited to speak at Warren’s church in recent years despite the pastor’s “awareness that I have views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues about abortion.”

“That dialogue is what my campaign was all about,” Obama said. “The magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated. And so that’s the spirit in which we have put together what I think will be a terrific inauguration.”

Pundits questioned his patriotism based on sound bites, including one where he shouted “God damn America!”

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For the first time since his retirement last spring, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. returned to the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ this morning with two goals: glorifying God and vilifying the media.

In honor of Trinity’s 47th anniversary, Wright preached Sunday worship services in place of Rev. Otis Moss III, who was attending his father’s farewell from the pulpit of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland.

“Any preacher who dares to point out the simple ugly facts found in every field imaginable is demonized as volatile, controversial, incendiary, inflammatory, anti-American and radical,” Wright said, taking time out to note the thousands of Japanese civilians who died 67 years to the day when American warplane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (Actually, Dec. 7 marks the day when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.)

By Manya A. Brachear
The Chicago Tribune

Citing the revelation to Mary by the angel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God, Wright said Mary’s disbelief was similar to the doubts some faithful shared about the future of Trinity after Wright’s retirement and the possibility of a black man being elected president.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Said “God damn America”
during church sermon. Obama was a member of
the church and contributed money for some 20 years….

“Our legitimate questions tend to be asked from the vantage point of limited horizons,” said Wright during the 7:30 a.m. service. “Mary had a limited horizon. She couldn’t see how it was possible.”

“In almost every instance where I have encountered this phenomenon, what I have discovered is that the limited horizons are caused by the tendency to look for a person to provide you with answers for your legitimate questions,” Wright continued. “I really should say our legitimate questions, not your legitimate questions, because God knows I’ve got some questions myself.”